treis · three

What it means

treis (τρεῖς) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “three”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The number three.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Three. Of the same group are τρίτος (third, G5154) and τρίς (three times). In the New Testament it comes up above all in the counting of days (the three days until the resurrection), in the rule of two or three witnesses that comes from the law, and in definite numbers in the narratives.

• “Three days”: the announcement of the resurrection Mark 8:31John 2:19Matthew 12:40
• Two or three witnesses; two or three gathered 2 Corinthians 13:1Matthew 18:20
• Three tents on the mountain Luke 9:33
• “These three”: faith, hope and love 1 Corinthians 13:13
• Time: three years, three months Luke 13:7Acts 7:20

How we translate it

Always “three” (68 times). In 1 Corinthians 10:8 it is part of the figure “twenty-three thousand”. Expressions of time are kept as in the Greek (“three days and three nights”, Matthew 12:40), without turning them into other counts.

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×12
• Mark×7
• Luke×10
• John×4
• Acts×13
• 1 Corinthians×4
• 2 Corinthians×1
• Galatians×1
• 1 Timothy×1
• Hebrews×1
• James×1
• 1 John×2
• Revelation×11

• Matthew 12:40

  For just as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

• Matthew 13:33

  He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

• Matthew 15:32

  And Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been staying with me three days already and they do not have anything to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

• Matthew 17:4

  And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

• Matthew 18:16

  But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.

• Matthew 18:20

  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”

• Matthew 26:61

  and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and in three days to build it.’”

• Matthew 27:40

  and saying, “You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

• Matthew 27:63

  and said, “Sir, we remember that that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’

• Mark 8:2

  “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have now been with me three days and they have nothing to eat;

• Mark 8:31

  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise.

• Mark 9:5

  And Peter responds and says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

• Mark 9:31

  for he was teaching his disciples and saying to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he has been killed, after three days he will rise.”

• Mark 10:34

  and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise.”

• Mark 14:58

  “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this sanctuary made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”

• Mark 15:29

  And those who passed by were insulting him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days,

• Luke 1:56

  And Mary stayed with her about three months and returned to her home.

• Luke 2:46

  And it happened after three days that they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and questioning them.

• Luke 4:25

  But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when heaven was shut for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

• Luke 9:33

  And it happened, as they were parting from him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”— not knowing what he was saying.

• Luke 10:36

  Which of these three seems to you to have become a neighbor to the one who fell among the bandits?”

• Luke 11:5

  And he said to them, “Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

• Luke 12:52

  For from now on there will be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three;

• Luke 13:7

  And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years I have been coming looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I do not find any. Cut it down; why should it also use up the ground?’

• Luke 13:21

  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.”

• John 2:6

  Now there were six stone water jars standing there for the purification of the Jews, each holding two or three measures.

• John 2:19

  Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.”

• John 2:20

  So the Jews said, “This sanctuary was built in forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”

• John 21:11

  So Simon Peter went up and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

• Acts 5:7

  And after an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

• Acts 7:20

  At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. He was brought up three months in his father’s house.

• Acts 9:9

  And for three days he was without sight, and did not eat or drink.

• Acts 11:11

  And look, at that very moment three men stood at the house in which we were, sent from Caesarea to me.

• Acts 17:2

  And according to Paul’s custom, he went in to them, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

• Acts 19:8

  And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading about the kingdom of God.

• Acts 20:3

  And after he had spent three months there, when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

• Acts 25:1

  So Festus, having arrived in the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

• Acts 28:7

  Now in the parts around that place there were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and hosted us kindly for three days.

• Acts 28:11

  And after three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the emblem of the Dioscuri.

• Acts 28:12

  And putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days;

And 28 more times.